Trick shower pod for Eclipse

Australian Off Road is steam-rolling into 2015 with a raft of new models and innovations, some of which will be debuted at this week’s Victorian Caravan, Camping & Touring Supershow at the Melbourne Showgrounds.

As well as debuting a comprehensively made-over new Matrix IV full-height off-road caravan with lithium battery power, AOR will display a new Eclipse IV hybrid pop-top featuring a novel rear shower pod.

The Caloundra-based adventure RV manufacturer has also just completed the first production version of its

range-topping Aurora tandem axle luxury off-road caravan, introduced a novel generator box for its pop-top models and has two other new models on the drawing board, ready for mid-year release.

On display for the first time in Melbourne this week, the Eclipse IV with its now-standard rear shower pod is a welcome development of AOR’s entry pop-top that is sure to broaden its appeal against its Track trailer Topaz, Complete Campsite and Rhinomax Discovery Hybrid market rivals.

Clearly inspired by

Track Trailer’s Tvan, the fibreglass pod that is top-hinged to the back of the Eclipse houses a drop-down rectangular, lightweight tent that encloses the rear mixer-tap hot & cold water shower when deployed.

But the clever thinking that comes directly from AOR founder Steve Budden, is the pod’s lightweight pallet-like base, which stores neatly in a vertical position behind the closed pod, but serves as both a base and also anchoring point for the tent’s elastic base straps when placed beneath it.

The entire structure can be assembled easily in less than two minutes and the base plate weighing just 15kg can be lifted into place by one person, making the pod a realistic proposition for overnight stops on road trips.

The complete pod adds less than 30kg to the weight of the Eclipse IV, but the best news is that it comes at no extra cost, with the price remaining at $77,900.

For those wanting the option of both indoor and outdoor cooking with their Eclipse, there will soon be two options.

One, currently available, is to option your Eclipse with a slide-out stainless steel kitchen with a two-burner Thetford gas cooker and a 45-litre top-loading EvaKool fridge-freezer.

Perhaps better, if you wait a couple of months, is to order the new Eclipse Plus, which will come standard with the front half of AOR’s range-topping hybrid Quantum, that incorporates a larger slide-out three-burner gas cook top, plumbed stainless steel sink and larger 83-litre EvaKool, as well as the new shower pod for a premium of just $2000.Spec the same internal cooker as the base Eclipse and you’ll have the best of both worlds.

Also new for 2015 from AOR is the production version of the $128,000 Aurora tandem-axle off-road luxury caravan that features a number of small but significant changes over the prototype which did the rounds of the Brisbane and Victorian shows in the second half of 2014.

The main change has been to push the north-south queen-size bed 100mm further forward into the nose of the van, which has created more interior space.

The kitchen and two-person dinette have swapped sides, the compressor fridge is now opposite the rear entry door rather than next to the bed and the large front boot is fully lined and now contains the air compressor for the standard Al-Ko iQ7 Senabrake system, that was previously located slightly vulnerably on the A-frame.

Finally, AOR has come up with a neat and robust generator box for its pop-top hybrid models that fits on the rear bumper and incorporates side ventilation to dispel the build-up of petrol fumes.